Maple Leaf Foods to divest animal nutrition business

Toronto, Canada based Maple Leaf Foods said it has
retained RBC Capital Markets as its financial advisor to assist in the
divestiture of its animal nutrition business. The process will entail a
solicitation of interest from potential purchasers and is expected to begin in
January 2007.

"The decision to divest of this business results from a reorganisation of the
Company's protein value chain operations, which includes our feed business, to
focus on growth in the value added meats and meals markets," said Michael Vels,
Chief Financial Officer of Maple Leaf Foods. "Operating a largely independent
animal nutrition company is strategically not aligned to this new model. Maple Leaf Animal Nutrition is an
outstanding business built by a highly experienced management team and
employees, with long-standing customer relationships, world-class animal
nutrition R&D technology, and excellent growth prospects that will be best
realized through the sale of this business."

Leading Canadian feed makerMaple Leaf Animal Nutrition is Canada's leading animal nutrition
organisation, supported by well known and trusted brands, including Shur-Gain in Eastern Canada and Landmark Feeds in Western
Canada.

Excluding assets that will be retained to service its own hog
production operations in Western Canada, the business has sales of approximately
$650 million (US$ 570m) and provides a broad range of animal nutrition products
and services including swine, dairy, beef, poultry, aquaculture and pet
food.

Its strong customer relationships and leading market shares are
supported by a world class research farm in Burford, Ontario, and ongoing
investments in research and development to continuously improve animal health
and performance.

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. is a leading Canadian food
processing company committed to delivering quality food products to consumers
around the world. Headquartered
in Toronto, Canada, the Company employs approximately 24,000 people at its
operations across Canada and in the United States,
Europe and Asia. The Company had sales of $6.1 billion (US$ 5.35b) in
2005.